Show Notes
Crack open the champagne. Mardi Gras Anthems is celebrating it's 21st edition in March 2024 with 21 featured artists. The annual Sydney Mardi Gras party falls on the first weekend of March this year so in readiness for that, I'm releasing this milestone edition in advance. This set epitomizes the term "Anthems" with tracks from legendary divas such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Deborah Cox, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Madonna and the list goes on. There is even an appearance from legendary 80's dance floor divas Evelyn Thomas and Miquel Brown. There are mixes from remixers' across the club spectrum including Mike Rizzo, Block & Crown, Country Club Martini Crew and the always fantastic Wayne G, 7th Heaven and Russ Rich. Each year I badger two of my favourite remix artists - Division 4 and Dirty Disco for copies of their early release and private remixes and every year they very generously provide me with them. I know I sound a bit like a broken record when I say this, but their generosity in doing this for me is so greatly appreciated and changes the landscape of how I approach and assemble these Mardi Gras Anthems sets. I'll let the music speak (sing) for itself while you hit the dance floor for this year's Mardi Gras Anthems deep dive. Enjoy Anthony
1/ "TOUCH MY BODY" (Division 4 Remix) - MARIAH CAREY 2/ "HIGH ENERGY" (Block & Crown and Sean Finn Club Mix) - EVELYN THOMAS 3/ "SINCE U BEEN GONE" (Division 4 Remix) - KELLY CLARKSON 4/ "BAD ROMANCE" (Division 4 Club Mix) - LADY GAGA 5/ "ALONE" (Matt Pop Club Mix) - HEART 6/ "AIR IT ALL OUT" (7th Heaven Club Mix) - PAULINI 7/ "BLANK SPACE" (Dirty Disco Mainroom Remix) - TAYLOR SWIFT 8/ "HEART OF STONE" (Wayne G. & Porl Young Club Mix) - FRANCE JOLI & JOEL DICKINSON 9/ "PIANO IN THE DARK" (7th Heaven Club Mix) - SHANIE 10/ "GIVE ME THE REASON" (Russ Rich & Leo Frappier Anthem Remix) - MIKE JOLLY ft. COCO STAR 11/ "WORK BITCH!" (Division 4 Remix) - BRITNEY SPEARS 12/ "WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER HERO" (Dirty Disco Classic Club Rework) - TINA TURNER 13/ "WE FOUND LOVE" (Dirty Disco Classic Club Rework) - RIHANNA ft. CALVIN HARRIS 14/ "LIVE TO TELL" (Cajjmere Wray Club Mix) - MADONNA 15/ "SO MANY MEN" (SO LITTLE TIME) - (Almighty 12" Classic Club Mix) - MIQUEL BROWN 16/ "DARK HORSE" (Country Club Martini Crew Club Mix) - KATY PERRY 17/ "PLAY YOUR PART" (Mike Rizzo Leading Role Club Mix) - DEBORAH COX 18/ "TRY IT ON MY OWN" (Dirty Disco Classic Club Rework) - WHITNEY HOUSTON 19/ "DANCING ON MY OWN" (Dirty Disco Classic Club Rework) - ROBYN 20/ "DISCO LIES" (Freemasons Club Mix) - MOBY 21/ "MYSTERIOUS TIMES" (Spencer & Hill Remix) - SASH! ft. TINA COUSINS
More from Anthony Whitlock's Podcast
Speaking of divas, it's time I focused some attention on the fabulous Deborah Cox. Canadian born Deborah Cox signed to Arista records in 1994 and her first album launched her career with the second single "Who Do U Love". From there, she climbed the charts around the world with hits such as "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here", It's Over Now", Absolutely Not" and Mr Lonely" in the late 1990's and 2000's. In the 2010's she continued with hits such as "Let The World Be Ours Tonight", "Beautiful U R" and "If It Wasn't For Love". While it was the urban and R&B versions of her songs that hit the mainstream charts, it was the club mixes that launched her in the night club scene. Her songs were mixed by the heavy hitters of the time including Hex Hector, Junior Vasquez, Davis Morales, Wayne G and Tony Moran. This was the 90's and 00's where club mixes regularly clocked in over 10 minutes. This first edition of the sublime Ms Cox features songs from the start and middle of her career right up to her more recent releases. More to come from this amazing singer. Enjoy Anthony
The October edition of UP! is filled with chunky house and vocal house anthems. I'm on annual leave this month so I'm in a happy/camp mood :) The front end of the set is vocal house with tracks from Toya, Alex Newell and Clubland. Russ Rich & Andy Allder have a brand new original song out which Russ very kindly gave me an early copy of. "Disco Lights" is an absolute euphoric slice of dance floor heaven. Russ wrote the song himself and the production and vocals are extraordinary. Andy also features a mix later in the set for ELMNTS. Wayne G. features two exceptional mixes in the set. The first is Miley's "Bass Persuades" which he has previewed as a fund raiser only release for Dementia UK, a very worthy cause. The second is Rita Ora's "Ask & You Shall Receive". I first met Wayne about 500 years ago on one of his regular visits to Sydney and we've stayed in touch over the years. He is an extraordinarily generous man and just a wonderfully kind soul and I can't thank him enough for the private mixes he has given to me. Madonna's renaissance is in full swing and her collaboration with Kylie Minogue on "Love Sensation" is a great example of it. Producer eSQUIRE features two awesome remixes before the set heads into camp, main room territory with standout remixes from Dirty Disco, GSP and 7th Heaven. I'm releasing this month's edition of UP! on my younger brother's birthday so, Happy Birthday Nick. Enjoy Anthony
The September '26 edition of UP! is jam packed with wall to wall vocal house anthems. The set kicks of with a great song "Let There Be Love" from Tess Merkel followed up by Harry Styles' "American Girls"' I pulled a classic Mariah Carey track from the vaults as well as Madonna's smash hit "Danceteria" from her current album Confessions II. Kristine W is back with her new song "Music's Gonna Save Us" and club diva Gypsy Love has a new song "Synchronicity" gaining traction in the clubs. Stand out remixes come from pretty much everyone featured here including Division 4, Dirty Disco, Rafael M, Andy Allder, Matt Moss and Tracy Young. Take yourself on a house journey with this month's edition of UP! Enjoy Anthony
This month's edition of UP! has been one of the most difficult for me to put together. One of my dearest friends of over 30 years passed away this month and it has been difficult to reconcile the profound feelings of grief and loss that have swallowed me, his beautiful partner, his family and friends. David was a bright light in the lives of everyone who knew him. I wasn't sure how I could translate that into a musical set that would do him justice. We had so many amazing nights out and in over the years. I have selected some songs that have uplifting, positive and powerful messages. These are some of my all time favourites mixed by some of my favourites in a T-Dance format. And to Derek, if you are reading this then you will know the significance of the closing song. This is the one that pulled David out of his mood on the dance floor at the Midnight Shift all those years ago. David, you will be missed but never forgotten. xx
Heading into July '26 is the latest edition of UP!. This set starts out with some fantastic house and pop tracks and progresses into some big room anthems. The set kicks off with Russ Rich and Andy Allder's brand new original track "Body And Soul". This is a beautiful house track with excellent vocals and production. The pair also lend their remix magic to "Raise it Up - Together" by Stephen Jusko & DJ Blacklow ft. Debbie Holiday. Andy appears again on his remix of "Eternal Flame" with Matt Consola. Division 4 turns in two stellar remixes for Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo respectively and of course Dirty Disco delivers thumping remixes for Lady Gaga & Doechii and Peyton respectively. There are some excellent covers in this set including "Eternal Flame", "In The Air Tonight" and "Freedom". Kylie Minogue's "Light Up" is transformed by Edson Pride and Tony Moran and Danny Verde also features a couple of tracks here. Enjoy Anthony